DOT and the State Boys have gone Mad!!!!!!!

I just love your small man attitude, carry on officer ! Thank god the A holes have to retire someday.

http://editorial.autos.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=948333&topart=luxury

 

Well after saying this in a previous post

You should be happy the officers mentioned in that article are stopping speeding cars .

 

One big problem is that city police, sheriff, and state highway patrol need to be catching thieves,rapists, murderers, druggies and drug runners etc.. but most of these don't generate income, they cost to prosecute and jail where as you and i get a dumb a zz ticket now that generates income. Put the highway patrol back to work where they were intended,,, not as dot enforcers let the ports handle inspections and fines!!!!!

 

Rick, don't lower yourself.

He'll be one of the many that cries when his check is gone and cries the loudest when he's caught. After all, from his other posts seeking answers about what's wrong with his commercial vehicle it'll be a wonder if he could pay the fine.

By the way; "alowe" (sic) of allow? Or is that some kind of ointment from that plant that grown in certain areas?

 

FYI: the original, current, and future intent of any highway patrol/state police is by law to issue violations and arrest violators on the highways just like Dieselbear does, which does in fact generates revenue which is good for the states. And ports already, and have been for quite some time (about 45 years), issue fines.

 

Beat to sh%t FLD's with mailbox letter decals... gotta be Florida or Texas... but my vote is Texas.

The worst piece of crap I have ever seen rolling down the road was in Laredo—an FLD that looked like it had just come from a big truck demolition derby. I couldn't believe he was even driving it on the road.

 

Did I offend you and your FLD freightshaker with the three color wonder? If so, I'm sorry sir. Just stating facts. I've stopped over 10,000 trucks and conducted inspections and one thing rings true. It also applies to non commercial vehicles as well. If you don't take care of your ride, i.e truck or car, you are not taking care of anything else. With CMV's, I know fellas like Rick and most other's on this forum have seen the trucks and operators I am talking about. Plain and simple....JUNK! Same as when I was on the road as part of regular patrol. I'd see a POS and 90% of the time you'd have a suspended driver, a drunk, dope or all three. Helland back, I've been around trucking my whole life. My uncle drove 43 years and my father gave it up after 25 years. I grew up riding with them. I can think of how many times they were DOT'd on one hand. Yes, there were less officers then than now, but they were still there. Yes the computers make it very easy for us to do numerous checks very quickly. Some inspectors know how to utilize FMCSA's various queries, some don't. But to give driver's the heads up, because on a daily basis it seems I enlighten at least one driver. When you are stopped and inspected it goes into a system called SAFER/SAFETY NET. From there if I or anyone else were to stop you, I can check any number of systems FMCSA has in place. The old systems that still work are PIQ, which checks past inspections by tag number. Query Central which can check driver's license #/name of driver, Carrier US DOT #, or vehicle plate/VIN #. A pretty good system. It goes back 6 months. I have found many, and I mean many driver's who were placed out of service by someone and low in behold I have stopped them before repairs were made, before the OOS for Hours of service was up or like PS Anderson stated non-OOS violations that have not been corrected in the time frame allowed. There's MCMIS, but that is better used while conducting audits. Another one is A &I as well as DIR. DIR is the driver information resource. Great system, goes back 3 years and shows all the inspections that have been done on a particular driver. shows all companies you have worked for and all violations that have been noted on past inspections. Gives you a good idea if a particular driver has a speeding problem, log book issue or a license issue. There is now a new sytem that ties all of these together called COMPASS and it the Cadillac of query systems. When I first started doing truck inspections 9 years ago, you only had the intelligence that you knew from previous stops you had conducted. From an enforcement standpoint, I can now tell if a driver is lying about his record when I ask how his driving record is. Is it good, bad, or ugly. Yes I have some that outright lie, deny and accuse. I have some that are totally truthful and a few that try and tell a little white lie. It lets me make an informed decision and I believe a better decision on how to take enforcement action. No one tells me what to write, how to write or what not to write. I issue citations to whatever I feel is necessary. Majority of what I write is for laziness or parts violations that are obvious. Laziness has to deal mostly with log books. Drivers not filling them out for 3 days or when they think I'm a dipsh^t and they want to lie on them. I can tell from my experience with logs as a kid with my pops or uncle. Hell I used to do their logs when I was 12 and 13 years old. Shadow logs, 2 or three logs and juggle them all. One for the DOT, one to get paid by, and one for anybody else that wanted to see it. When your tires get to the point they are bald and steel belts are coming through, it's time to be cited for tires. You would probably be surprised how many driver's are disqualified by 391.15 that are driving everyday. I get on average 1 or 2 a day. Last week I had 6 out of 9 driver's I stopped disqualified in one day.

I did take a truck driver I know on a ride along so he could see the junk that is on the road these days. I have talked to this fella for years and he is a driver and very pro-trucker. Before he rode he always defended the drivers and trucks. I have no problem with that. Majority of driver's I have seen over the years are decent guys and gals. Very courteous and know the business very well. Very professional & comply by the regs. The few that do what they want, give all a bad name. Just like in police work, there are a few that are complete idiots, every trade/job has these it seems. Well anyway I take this fella out, he has also done diesel mechanic work in the past as well. The first five trucks we stop are OOS for various violations. Logs and parts. I find the part violations and tell the rider to come and take a look. He couldn't believe what guys were driving up and down the interstate. Brake drum sheered off and missing. Shoes that are worn down to the rivots and cutting the drum. Leaf springs broken, shackles loose, U-bolts loose with the leaf spring broken and missing half of it. Air lines crimped with a vice-grip to cut the air off to a chamber. This is what I see on a daily basis. I know guys like Rick G aren't the ones doing this. That's why I said in an earlier posts, most of you on this forum will never meet me because you stay up on your rig. The ones that are trying to get by, or half a zz it are the ones I find, or so it seems. I don't see the point in stopping a truck with no violations to just do an inspection. I know some of my co-horts do. My job is to find junk and remove it off the highway before it kills someone. Always has been and always will be. I don't know any other way. If I am describing anyone on this forum, well....then fix your junk and get your rig up to par. It's kinda like the FRAM commercial a few years back. "Pay a little now or a lot later." Stay up on your trucks and you have to put money back into them. I know that, my old man did it for years as I was growing up and yes we did without. But you take care of little problems now before they snowball into huge problems and cost and arm and a leg. Plus if you are shut down, road service is not cheap. From what I have seen they hit you harder than I do. Be careful out there.